command.com wakes up all disk drives on XP (latest patch level)

[Guest]

I'm having a PC with 3 harddisks. One main disk (C:\) and two (E:\ and F:\)
for achiving.
I have turned on the power management such that hard drives are turned off
after 10 minutes (E and F drive). This I do to reduce noice level. The C
drive never turns off, but that's ok.

This works fine until I recently had to reinstall windows. Now the E:\ and
F:\ are woken up frequently (at least once an hour).

I have isolated command.com as the reason for waking up the disks. It's
easly testable by just start the shell (typing command.com in a cmd shell).
The command hangs until all disks are woken up.

A lots of programs are using command.com, so I believe that getting control
over command.com's disk access would solve the problem.

Question: why does command.com wake up sleeping drives? And how can I force
command.com to cool down and only care about C:\?
Also any other tips and triks on how to controll disk access. It seams that
lots of problems loves to access all disk drives available.

The version of command.com is 5.1.2600

Thanks for any help.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

A lots of programs are using command.com, so I believe that getting

control over command.com's disk access would solve the problem.

If you are not purposely running a bunch of old 16-bit MS-DOS programs, I
would....

UPDATE your antivirus software and run a full system scan.

UPDATE whatever anti-spyware applications that you have and run a full
system scan with each one.

You might want to start in Safe Mode to run your antivirus and anti-spyware
software.

Running a full system antivirus scan or anti-spyware scan in Safe Mode can
be a good idea. Some viruses and other malware like to conceal themselves
in areas Windows protects while using them. Safe mode can prevent those
applications access and therefore unprotect the viruses or other malware
allowing for easier removal.

''In safe mode, you have access to only basic files and drivers
(mouse, monitor, keyboard, mass storage, base video, default system
services), just the minimum device drivers required to start Windows.''

Because of that some malware does not load in Safe Mode and is easier to get
rid of.

How to start Windows in Safe Mode Windows XP
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showtutorial=61#winxo

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Jaymon]

Your typing Command.com in the RUN box, right..?
Not in the Command Prompt box, that's a no no....
Cheers
j;-j

 

[Jaymon]

Your typing Command.com in the RUN box, right..?
Not in the Command Prompt box, that's a no no....
Cheers
j;-j

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Not in the Command Prompt box, that's a no no....

Horse hockey!

Typing command or command.com in a cmd.exe window just opens command.com in
the cmd.exe window. Typing EXIT closes command.com and leaves cmd.exe open.

-----------------
Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\>command /?
Starts a new instance of the MS-DOS command interpreter.

COMMAND [[drive:]path] [device] [/E:nnnnn] [/P] [/C string] [/MSG]

[drive:]path Specifies the directory containing COMMAND.COM file.
device Specifies the device to use for command input and output.
/E:nnnnn Sets the initial environment size to nnnnn bytes.
/P Makes the new command interpreter permanent (can't exit).
/C string Carries out the command specified by string, and then
stops.
/MSG Specifies that all error messages be stored in memory. You
need to specify /P with this switch.

C:\>
-----------------

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\>command
Microsoft(R) Windows DOS
(C)Copyright Microsoft Corp 1990-2001.

C:\>exit

C:\>command.com
Microsoft(R) Windows DOS
(C)Copyright Microsoft Corp 1990-2001.

C:\>exit

C:\>
--------------

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Jaymon]

OOpS i sorry, getting use to the News Reader, aparently had two of the same
msgs in the outbox, updated and OoPs..
J;-j

 

[Guest]

Hi,
yes I have some old 16 bits programs. BUT, they did not previously spinn up
all by drives. But they do know, due to command.com.

It's no virus. And I'm running antiwirus programs and I just reinstalled the
computer.

My problem description is simple:
Why does startup of command.com from the RUN box spinn up all drives (E:\
and F:\)? And how can I configure command.com NOT to do that.
There is nothing else than movies and backup files on the E and F drive.

tunk.

 

[Guest]

Hi,
I type it in RUN box.


--
tunk

Your typing Command.com in the RUN box, right..?
Not in the Command Prompt box, that's a no no....
Cheers
j;-j

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Forget command.com and use cmd.exe instead.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

I really don't want to usen command.com not cmd.exe. BUT the problem is the
PROGRAMS I have that use command.com. I still want to use the programs. ok?
Therefore my question is: IS THERE ANYONE THAT KNOW HOW TO CONFIGURE
COMMAND.COM such that it doesn't spin up all available drives at start up?
There is a case about command.com and accessing the A:\ drive. It was
troublereported, but nothing about other drives.

tunk

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Beats me. Look through the following MSKB articles and double check the
files (Config.nt and Autoexec.nt, etc) and registry entries.

Troubleshooting MS-DOS-based programs in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314106

How to Troubleshoot 16-Bit Windows Programs in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314495

Not everything in the following article will apply. The article was written
for Windows 2000. However most of it does.
[[If it was not one of those, you can try the DLLs under the following
registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\W

Value: Known DLLs]]

The above should read...
[[If it was not one of those, you can try the DLLs under the following
registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\WOW

Value: Known DLLs]]
Troubleshooting NTVDM and WOW Startup Errors
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/196453

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Wesley Vogel]

I meant to add that you should really look through the entries in Config.nt
and Autoexec.nt. Command.com uses those files, in fact it will not run if
they are messed up or not in the proper location. Cmd.exe does not use them
and can run just fine with both of them completely gone from the machine.

There may be something goofy in one or the other.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

Beats me. Look through the following MSKB articles and double check the
files (Config.nt and Autoexec.nt, etc) and registry entries.

Troubleshooting MS-DOS-based programs in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314106

How to Troubleshoot 16-Bit Windows Programs in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314495

Not everything in the following article will apply. The article was
written for Windows 2000. However most of it does.
[[If it was not one of those, you can try the DLLs under the following
registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\W

Value: Known DLLs]]

The above should read...
[[If it was not one of those, you can try the DLLs under the following
registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\WOW

Value: Known DLLs]]
Troubleshooting NTVDM and WOW Startup Errors
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/196453

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

I really don't want to usen command.com not cmd.exe. BUT the problem is
the PROGRAMS I have that use command.com. I still want to use the
programs. ok? Therefore my question is: IS THERE ANYONE THAT KNOW HOW TO
CONFIGURE COMMAND.COM such that it doesn't spin up all available drives
at start up? There is a case about command.com and accessing the A:\
drive. It was troublereported, but nothing about other drives.

tunk

 

[Ron Martell]

I'm having a PC with 3 harddisks. One main disk (C:\) and two (E:\ and F:\)
for achiving.
I have turned on the power management such that hard drives are turned off
after 10 minutes (E and F drive). This I do to reduce noice level. The C
drive never turns off, but that's ok.

This works fine until I recently had to reinstall windows. Now the E:\ and
F:\ are woken up frequently (at least once an hour).

I have isolated command.com as the reason for waking up the disks. It's
easly testable by just start the shell (typing command.com in a cmd shell).
The command hangs until all disks are woken up.

A lots of programs are using command.com, so I believe that getting control
over command.com's disk access would solve the problem.

Question: why does command.com wake up sleeping drives? And how can I force
command.com to cool down and only care about C:\?
Also any other tips and triks on how to controll disk access. It seams that
lots of problems loves to access all disk drives available.

The version of command.com is 5.1.2600

Thanks for any help.

What programs are using command.com? It is only included in Windows
XP for rare compatibility issues with some very old applications. The
ms-dos emulator in Windows XP is cmd.exe and that is what should be
used rather than command.com except for those rare apps which
specifically check for the existence of command.com

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Guest]

Hi,
run procmon capturing all disc accesses. Let it run for a while and search
for command.com. I bet you will see frequent access to the old emulator.

Agree that it doesn't make sense, but it is happening on my machine. E.g. I
have one exe file (it has not been installed, I just run it directly), which
stats up command.com when I run it.